NATO chief's 100% tariff warning for India, China and Brazil over oil and gas trade with Russia

In a stern warning on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance would apply '100% secondary sanctions' on those who continue to trade gas and oil with Vladimir Putin's Russia.  "If you are the President of China, the Prime Minister of India, or the President of Brazil, and you are still trading with the Russians and buying their oil and gas, I will impose secondary sanctions at 100%," Rutte said, citing US President Donald Trump's changed position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Following a meeting with US President Donald Trump, who recently voiced his mounting dissatisfaction and unhappiness with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rutte made these comments.

Trump gave Vladimir Putin 50 days to implement a peace agreement with Ukraine and put an end to the four-year conflict following his meeting with Rutte.

In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, the head of NATO threatened to impose 100% tariffs and secondary sanctions on consumers of Russian goods unless a peace agreement was struck within the next 50 days.

"My encouragement to these three countries, particularly, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard," said Rutte.

Rutte called on China, India, and Brazil, or the BRICS countries, to "make the phone call to Putin."

"Tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way," the former Dutch leader added. 

Trump has not previously mentioned China, India, or Brazil in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.  However, the US president has threatened sanctions against nations who do business with Russia. Additionally, a bill that guarantees 500 percent tariffs on countries that trade with Moscow is presently being pushed by US senators.

The latest warning for Brazil, China, and India follows US President Trump's threat of further taxes on BRICS nations for their purportedly "anti-American policies."

A day after the ten-state regional bloc denounced the US and Israel's attacks on Iran and its nuclear facilities, Trump took to Truth Social to threaten an additional ten percent tariff.